T-Rex was a pussy

[Minstrel]

Utahraptors were bad-ass.

 

[huevonkiller]

Utahraptors were bad-ass.

Nice choice man. :O

 

[NJNetz]

I disagree. The Raptors are no match for....

Get it...because of the 81 point game...get it....

 

[Minstrel]

I disagree. The Raptors are no much for....

Get it...because of the 81 point game...get it....

I don't follow you. Humans weren't around concurrently with dinosaurs. The fossil record shows this.

 

[barfo]

I don't follow you. Humans weren't around concurrently with dinosaurs. The fossil record shows this.

Kobe isn't human, I think that's his point.

barfo

 

[Anima]

Megalodon for the win.

They are estimated to have grown as large as 60 feet long and 70 tons.

I see your Megalodon and raise you a Argentinosaurus, which grew to be about 120 feet and over 100 tons.

 

[Colonel Ronan]

You should see my wang...

 

[Minstrel]

I see your Megalodon and raise you a Argentinosaurus, which grew to be about 120 feet and over 100 tons.

Plant-eaters hardly count. This is an apex predator showdown.

The prehistoric equivalent of "tiger vs. polar bear."

 

[Anima]

Plant-eaters hardly count. This is an apex predator showdown.

The prehistoric equivalent of "tiger vs. polar bear."

Ah, want to play that game eh? OK, I see your Megalodon and raise you a Blue Whale which comes in at 108 feet and 172 tons. Although their pray tends to be on the microscopic side they are still a predator.

 

[Minstrel]

Ah, want to play that game eh? OK, I see your Megalodon and raise you a Blue Whale which comes in at 108 feet and 172 tons. Although their pray tends to be on the microscopic side they are still a predator.

You're just mad that I trumped your Predator X.

But, I'm sorry to report, blue whales don't qualify as "apex predators" because they aren't at the top of their food chain. Orcas prey on blue whales. I can only imagine (with some sympathy for the blue whale) what a megalodon would do to a blue whale.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_apex_predators

 

[Anima]

You're just mad that I trumped your Predator X.

But, I'm sorry to report, blue whales don't qualify as "apex predators" because they aren't at the top of their food chain. Orcas prey on blue whales. I can only imagine (with some sympathy for the blue whale) what a megalodon would do to a blue whale.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_apex_predators

But Killer Whales don't pray on adult Blue Whales, they only pray on the young whales, and from Wikipedia's definition of apex predator...

This is a partial list of apex predators - those predators that are not preyed upon as healthy adults in the wild.

The only natural (non-human) predator that has ever been recorded attacking a Blue whale is packs of killer whales, or Orcas. It is highly unlikely that they would ever attempt to take down an adult blue whale, do to the sheer difference of scale between the two whales. But Groups of Orcas have been known to attack and kill young blue whales.

http://www.blue-whale.info/Predators_of_the_Blue_Whale.html

 

[Minstrel]

But Killer Whales don't pray on adult Blue Whales, they only pray on the young whales, and from Wikipedia's definition of apex predator...



The only natural (non-human) predator that has ever been recorded attacking a Blue whale is packs of killer whales, or Orcas. It is highly unlikely that they would ever attempt to take down an adult blue whale, do to the sheer difference of scale between the two whales. But Groups of Orcas have been known to attack and kill young blue whales.

http://www.blue-whale.info/Predators_of_the_Blue_Whale.html

From Wikipedia on blue whales:

"The whales' only natural predator is the Orca.[41] Studies report that as many as 25% of mature Blue Whales have scars resulting from Orca attacks.[24] The rate of mortality due to such attacks is unknown."


So, it seems that orcas do attack mature whales. Well, it's a little uncertain phrasing but they do label orcas as a "natural predator," which seems to preclude blue whales from being an apex predator.

 

[Anima]

From Wikipedia on blue whales:

"The whales' only natural predator is the Orca.[41] Studies report that as many as 25% of mature Blue Whales have scars resulting from Orca attacks.[24] The rate of mortality due to such attacks is unknown."


So, it seems that orcas do attack mature whales. Well, it's a little uncertain phrasing but they do label orcas as a "natural predator," which seems to preclude blue whales from being an apex predator.

But those scares may have been from attacks when the whales were young. Also, doesn't an attack have to be fatal in order to consider it predatory? I can't find a single account of an Orca killing an adult Blue Whale.

 

[Minstrel]

But those scares may have been from attacks when the whales were young.

Agreed, that's why I said it was uncertain.

Also, doesn't an attack have to be fatal in order to consider it predatory?

Probably. On the other hand, animals rarely attack others when they have no expectation of success. I'm not a marine biologist, so I can't say why, how often and with what success rate orcas go after mature blue whales, but if blue whales have a recorded natural predator, I'm claiming victory.

Megalodon ftw.